reclaiming old and worn estate pipes

Restoring a Newer Cadogan Era GBD Marquis 411 Pot

This GBD Marquis is the last of the local pipe shop pipes that I will work on for a bit. It came from the estate of the same older gentleman whose wife returned them to the shop for restoration and resale. This is a smooth finished GBD. The briar has some beautiful straight, flame and birdseye grain around the bowl. On the right side of the shank are two putty fills that have shrunk and left rough spots around the number stamp. It is stamped on the left side of the shank with the GBD oval logo next to the line stamp – Marquis. On the right side it is stamped St. Claude – France over the shape number 411. From the lack of a brass rondel on the stem and the GBD logo stamped on the left side of the saddle instead I am putting this pipe in the Cadogan era of the brand. The stem is original but is a stamped stem blank with none of the original GBD Charm. It is a pretty good looking pipe even though it is dirty.I included this little GBD pot in the box of pipes that I sent off to my brother for cleaning. This is the fourth pipe that I have brought to the work table from the lot of about 50 to rework. I can only repeat how thankful I am for his willingness to clean and ream the pipes for me. It really has allowed me to move through the repairs much more quickly. When he received the pipe he took a series of photos of it to show its condition.He took a close up photo of the beveled rim top showing the thick cake and the overflow of lava onto the top of the bowl. The lava pretty well hid the beveled rim top from view. The cake is very thick and hard. Like the rest of the pipes in this estate the cake made the bowl appear to be quite small and in this condition would hold very little tobacco. The photo of the underside of the bowl and shank shows the beautiful birdseye grain.The next photos show the stamping on the left and the right side of the shank. It is clear and readable. The GBD Oval stamped logo on the side of the stem is in very good condition.The next photo shows the two shrunken fills on the right side of the shank and on the underside edge. Other than those two the pipe is flawless.Jeff took a close up of the GBD oval logo stamped on the side of the saddle stem. It is great shape. The stem itself has some wear and tear with tooth chatter, tooth marks and oxidation but it should clean up well.Jeff cleaned the pipe up very well. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet Reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He cleaned the mortise and the airway in the stem and shank with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the grime and dust of time. When I received the pipe it was very clean. I took photos of it to record what it looked like before I started my work. Jeff removed the thick hard cake and the lava buildup on the rim top and revealed a deep inward bevel to the rim. The inner and outer edges of the rim were in good condition. The top surface of the rim had some minor darkening and a few small nicks but otherwise looked very good. The vulcanite stem looked far better than when Jeff started the cleanup. There were a lot of scratches on the surface and a few tooth marks on both the top and underside if the stem. The GBD oval logo was undamaged.The stem still had some remaining oxidation in the vulcanite so I dropped it into the Before & Stem Deoxidizer bath and let it soak overnight. The photo below shows the stem before I pushed it into the bath.While the stem soaked I turned my attention to the bowl. I cleaned up the fills on the right side of the shank. I used a dark stain pen to try to blend them into the briar a little better (ineffective by the way). I filled in the dips in the fills with a few drops of clear super glue. I made sure to overfill the repairs as the glue shrinks as it dries. Once it cured I used a fold piece of sandpaper to sand the spots and blend them into the surrounding briar without damaging the stamping. That was a bit tricky because of the location of the fills. When I had the area smooth I used 1500-4000 grit micromesh sanding pads to polish those areas. I used a dark brown stain pen to blend the repaired areas into the surrounding stain. I hand buffed the shank to further blend the stain.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips to deep clean the smooth finish, enliven and protect the briar. I let it sit for a few minutes and then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The grain of the briar really had begun to show through at this point and there was a rich shine to the briar. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration.I set the bowl aside and called it a night. In the morning I removed the stem from the Before & After Stem Deoxidizer and wiped it off with a paper towel to remove the remaining oxidation and bath. I cleaned out the airway with pipe cleaners and alcohol until it was clean. The stamping on the stem looked good. The stem was clean and black with the tooth marks very visible. It was ready for repairs to the tooth marks and polishing.I filled in the tooth marks with clear super glue on both sides of the stem and set it aside to allow the repairs to cure. When the repairs had dried I sanded them smooth and blended them into the surface of the stem. I reshaped the button on both sides of the stem with a needle file and sanded the stem down 220 grit sandpaper. The surface of the stem on both sides looks good. The tooth marks are gone and the surface is smooth. I carefully polished the saddle portion of the stem being careful to not damage the GBD oval stamping. Once the saddle portion was shining I applied some Antique Gold Rub’n Buff with a cotton swab to the stamped area. I made sure that it was deep in the stamp and let it sit for a few minutes before rubbing it off with the other end of the cotton swab and a cotton pad. I took all the excess away and left the stamping looking like brass. Once I buffed it the stem and logo would look like new.I worked over the stem with micromesh sanding pads. I polished out the sanding scratches and marks in the vulcanite – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads and wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each one. When I finished with the 12000 grit pad I gave it a final coat of oil and let it dry. Once it had dried, I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish Fine and Extra Fine. I rubbed it down with final coat Obsidian Oil and took the following picture.I put the stem back on the bowl and took the pipe to the buffing wheel to work it over. I buffed the bowl and stem once again with Blue Diamond to polish it. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats carnauba wax. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a really nicely grained GBD pipe 411 Pot that came out in the Cadogan era of the brand. Its amazing grain is only marred by the two fills on the right side of the shank. They are blended into the shank better than before but they still show. The pipe still looks great and feels comfortable in the hand. The medium brown stain and the polished black vulcanite work together to give the classic pot shaped pipe a rich look. It will make a great pipe addition to the rack and should be a great smoker. The dimensions of the pipe are: Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 1/2 inches, Outer Diameter of the Bowl: 1 ½ inches, Diameter of the Chamber: 7/8 inches. I will be adding this one to the rebornpipes store shortly if you are interested in adding it to your collection. If you are interested email me at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. Thanks for looking.